The Limits To Water Resource Management In The State Of Pará: A Technical Analysis

Abstract

 Water resources management in the northern region of Brazil, where most of the Brazilian Amazon is located, is considered to be of low complexity by the federal government, due to the existence of punctual problems and conflicts. The widespread abundance of water, which places the region in a comfortable position, encourages the installation of large, high-impact projects on water resources, dispensing the need for planning and management to prioritize democratization of access and rational use. The State of Pará is at a little advanced stage concerning water resources management, reflecting what can be observed in the northern region. To determine the limiting factors to the development of water resources management in Pará is the objective of this article, which focused on the analysis of the performance of the managing office, the State Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability of Pará (SEMAS/PA), and on the implementation of management instruments and river basin committees provided for in federal and state legislation. In addition to bibliographic research, documents produced up to 2019 by SEMAS/PA were analyzed, and interviews were conducted in 2018 with civil servants and ex-servants, occupying strategic positions. The results show both structural limitations, as the need for greater autonomy of the managing office and for an increase in the work team, and institutional limitations, as the predominance of different interests in environmental conservation and the lack of focus on strategic planning.